


grow on me (like a parasite or a fungal infection)

by uwumeup



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)
Genre: Boss/Employee Relationship, M/M, Pre-Canon, Rating May Change, Slow Burn, probably at least
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:48:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24176143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uwumeup/pseuds/uwumeup
Summary: Everyone seems to think that getting thrown into a job with Doctor Robotnik is a worst-case scenario, but Stone decides to take it as an opportunity to do something that no one's done before, and boy is he determined.(Hey, maybe one day it'll pay off.)
Relationships: Dr. Eggman | Dr. Robotnik/Agent Stone
Comments: 6
Kudos: 47





	grow on me (like a parasite or a fungal infection)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't written anything for this fandom before, but I've been really wanting to for a while, so here's my take on how I like to think Stone and Robotnik's pre-canon relationship went (plus, maybe a bit of self-indulgent pining 👀)  
> -  
> (chapter title is from believer by imagine dragons)

Growing up, you learn a lot about the process of getting a job - Stone could remember the first job he had, working part-time as a barista while trying to make it through college. It had probably been the most bland place he’d ever worked at, with the most bland application process ever, but hey, it’d been the only thing that could fit his schedule, and at least he’d gotten some experience from it.

This had been nothing like that.

See, Stone hadn't quite been interviewed to work for Robotnik, nor had he applied for the job in the first place. Originally, he'd been appointed to work on some cases across the country, some easy assignments that really any agent could’ve handled, but a nice break from the chaos that he’d been facing in his last few cases. Or, rather, it _would’ve_ been, had the agent in theposition of the doctor’s assistant not been dismissed for what must’ve been at least the third time Stone had heard about in that month.

"Christ, I swear to god Robotnik's gone through nearly a hundred assistants by now!" The general had ranted, pacing back and forth in his office. "We're running out of agents to assign to him!"

Alright, maybe he could just excuse himself - obviously this wasn't a good time, he would just swing by later that day to talk to him, once the whole Robotnik situation was dealt with and the general was in higher spirits. Yeah, that would work.

"Stone," The man barked suddenly, and he instinctively spun back to face him from where he'd been moving to leave, "You aren't currently assigned to anyone, are you?"

He swallowed, pushing down the part of his brain urging him to just get out of there, "Not currently sir, but-"

"Perfect," He was cut off once again, and the man quickly began to jot something down. “Now you are. I’m sure you’ve heard of Ivo Robotnik, correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

The general fingered a single sticky-note off a stack, scribbling a few words on it, before holding it out for Stone. “You’ll arrive at this location tomorrow, 6 a.m. sharp.”

He folded the paper, slipping it into his pocket with a bitten tongue - how did he get from what would basically be a paid vacation to _this_?

“Oh, and Agent?”

When Stone looked back up at the general, he wore a grim expression. “I pray that you keep your extremities intact, you’re a good agent, and I wouldn’t do this if I had another choice.”

He felt a sense of unease at the comment, but gave a curt nod and left the office wordlessly. So much for a relaxing assignment.

“Hey,” An agent who Stone somewhat recognized from a past operation pulled him aside halfway through his break, only a couple hours after he’d left the general’s office, and spoke under his breath, “I heard you’re gonna be working with Robotnik now.”

He blinked, had word really gotten around that fast?

“Man, I gotta warn you, as much of a nutjob that guy is, he knows how to get under your skin. Just… try to stay on his good side.”

The guy had let him go without another word, and Stone was left reeling, the anxiety from the general’s previous comment flaring back up again. That was two warnings about working for this guy, but he couldn’t be that bad... could he? All he could really do now was hope, after all, he’d already been sucked into this. Besides, he tried to reason with himself, if Robotnik really _was_ that bad, the government wouldn’t be working with him… right?

There were six more agents who approached him before he left the agency that night.

“Don’t interrupt him, I heard he cut one guy’s tongue out because of it.”

“If you touch anything without his permission, he’ll find out - he’s got eyes _everywhere_.”

“Make sure not to leave him waiting, every minute wasted is another minute he spends planning how to make your life a living hell.”

“Never talk back to him, even if you think it’ll help in the situation, because he’ll make sure that it _won’t_.”

“He can find out everything about you with the click of a button, and he won’t hold back on using it against you.”

“If you screw up, you’d better high-tail it out of there and pray to every god you can imagine that you won’t die right then and there.”

“You should just quit right now.”

That was what every one of them had ended with, and if Stone was a logical man, he would heed their dozens of warnings and march back into the general's office to plead his way out of it - he'd hopefully never have to hear Robotnik's name again, and would come out completely unscathed, well, aside from his pride. Perhaps that was what kept him from doing just that; in fact, even with all of the insistences that he should quit and the pit of anxiety growing in his stomach, there was a stubbornness that overwhelmed it by far. No one yet had succeeded as an assistant of the doctor, and Stone was determined to be the first.

Stepping out of the van, Stone paused for a moment to stare at the scene in front of him. He’d pictured the lab to be a building set in the middle of a rural town’s street, just out of the way and ordinary enough to be discreet, but fanciful enough that Robotnik was happy with it. At no point had he considered it being a black truck in the middle of an empty clearing. Maybe he _should’ve_ expected it, considering the general’s note hadn’t even mentioned an address, just coordinates that he’d plugged into his GPS without question. It didn’t really matter, either way Stone had to head inside.

His suit was ironed flat (twice over, just in case, because apparently the doctor was _especially_ picky with appearances), but he still made sure to smooth it out again as he approached the truck. His eyes scanned it back and forth, before landing on a panel - was that the door? There didn’t seem to be another entrance, so it was worth a shot.

As he lifted his fist to knock on the door, the agent steeled himself, sucking in a deep breath. Before he could make contact with the truck, the hatch swung open, revealing a man staring down at him from the truck. Stone stared at him, at his unkempt hair and dark bags framing his downright venomous glare.

He hesitated, and then finally shook off his bewilderment. “Are you Doctor Robotnik?”

The man dragged his eyes up and down his body, as if examining every single inch of his skin, and even with all his years of training, the scrutinous gaze made Stone shift uncomfortably. He finally landed on Stone’s face, pointedly not looking him directly in the eyes as he raised a brow.

“My name is Agent Sto-”

“I know who you are,” he snapped. “I just can’t believe that those braindead halfwits really believe that I need another one of you government lap dogs as my ‘assistant’ - especially one as typical as _you_ \- despite my insistence and clear evidence that I can get my robots to do any job I could assign to you _thirty-three_ percent more efficiently. I bet you’d do anything they asked, wouldn’t you? In fact, I’ll bet that you didn’t choose me as an employer, _they_ did, and you didn’t fight it, is that right?”

A pause - was Stone meant to reply?

“Well,” Apparently not, since the doctor continued. “I’m glad to inform you, then, that you’re relieved of your services here, and you can go tell those troglodytic bastards that they can shove it up their _a_ _sses_!”

Stone flinched as the hatch slammed shut, a gush of air blowing into his face as he stood, stunned. It took a moment for the shock of the encounter to wear off - that was certainly Robotnik, despite the disheveled appearance that seemed so out-of-character for him. _That_ was going to be his boss for the next however long he was employed there, because, _no_ , he would not be taking the doctor’s statement at face value. He’d been sent here for a reason, after all.

He raps on the door once, then once more, loudly, before the panel swings open.

“Do you need to get your hearing checked? I said-”

“Sir, with due respect, I _was_ assigned to you, so I would at least like to get some work done before you dismiss me.”

The doctor’s lips turned up in a condescending smirk. “Oh, you’d _like_ that, would you?”

“Yes, sir.”

His mocking expression dropped as he gave Stone another once-over, sucking in a sharp breath. “Fine.”

A slight smile broke across the agent’s face as the doctor turned on his heel, disappearing back into the truck. A few moments later, a set of stairs rose from the panel, and Stone cautiously stepped inside.

The lab was surprisingly spacious for what it was, and everywhere that he looked were flashing lights and machinery that looked as if they’d been pulled straight out of a science fiction novel. He recognized some of the robots from a handful of his previous missions, buzzing around the labs, carrying papers and other tools from room to room - it was certainly a lot more tame than the gruesome actions he’d seen them perform before. Every so often one would pause its actions to face him, scanners sweeping up and down his body, and Stone would force himself to swallow the lump in his throat, trailing after Robotnik.

The doctor paused in front of his chair and spun around to look at him.

“Now, I only have three rules for you - go stand in that corner facing the wall, don’t speak unless spoken to, and don’t touch _anything_ , simple enough that a toddler could understand it.” He raised his brows, “Let’s hope that your intelligence surpasses that of one, hmm?”

Without another word, Robotnik slumped down in his chair, pulling a pair of headphones over his ears and spinning around to face his desk.

Stone's eyes lingered on him for a moment, before he hesitantly walked to the corner of the room. This was going to be a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm hoping to make this full work pretty long, so here's to the start of my first multi-chapter fic!  
> -  
> comments and kudos are very much appreciated! 💜


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